One's Pigeon

From the time I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by pigeons. They are so gregarious and I like the way they coo and strut with their heads bobbing. Some of the pigeons have quite colourful feathers especially the very shiny rainbow like neck feathers and have you noticed their red feet? Once I saw a pigeon with streaks of red feathers and speckled with white here and there and it was simply a funky pigeon on the move.  It was one of the most memorable pigeons I have come across. I think I spent more time looking at pigeons when I was young when one of my aunt had a small wooden house built especially for pigeons in her backyard. The birds were free to come and go and every day she ensured that there is a good supply of grains for them. It is at that time I realized that pigeons call a place ‘home’ and will return every evening to it!!

There always some pigeons walking about in the Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist temples. And many Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs have the habit of feeding grains to the pigeons because they believe that when they are reincarnated one day they will never go hungry if they feed the pigeons in this life. Of course, my Christian friends believe the pigeon is a symbol of peace and of the Holy Spirit. Long before telecommunications and telegraphs poles were invented, the pigeons were used as messenger ‘boys’ in many countries.  It is funny that typing this article brings me memories of pigeon related incidences in my life.  When my grandmother suffered from a stroke and paralysis, the relatives suggested that she should be massaged and rubbed with pigeon's blood.  I do remember seeing her being massaged by an elderly who had the blood in a little stainless steel bowl.  Grandmas had almost purplish coloured blooded applied on her arm and leg.  In Myanmar I saw gemstone merchants selling Pigeon Blood rubies!!  I guess it was the bright red colour of they ruby they were referring to. I have heard of stories of Africans splattering the blood pigeon on their dressing tables and beds to get rid of evil spirits!

About three weeks ago I realized that pair of pigeons has set up home in the corner of my balcony, just behind the air-con compressor. I noticed that they have built a nest with scraps of twigs, newspaper, leaves etc. Then one day I found the pigeon just sitting down on the nest while the other pigeon stood not far from it. The sitting pigeon, mummy was almost lifeless sitting down, looking far ahead. Even when I went nearer to it to take a photograph, it did not budge or look at me. A couple of days later I saw two eggs. The mummy pigeon will sit on the eggs the whole day and the father pigeon will hover around there. I cannot remember their faces too much to know if they take turns to look after the eggs. I guess they were also keeping the eggs warm.

I left for Singapore at that stage and returned to the apartment 15 days later to find the eggs hatched into two tiny bald pigeons!! They looked very ugly. They squeak like crazy, flapping their little bald wings all the time with their little voices and I see the mummy pigeon feeding them often. The bald babies have got quite big bulging tummies and can only walk slowly. The baby pigeon’s beak appears to be far too long for the size of its body. And it has like a pinkish fleshy area at the top of the beak. The parents have whitish part near the beak. They are pooping all over my balcony and made a mess of it. Sometimes I feel that I got to give them a good lashing of the tongue for being so dirty. But then Mummy pigeon could not be bothered to toilet train her children I guess. After all, the sky is the limit for their toilets!

There were many times when birds moved my emotions. There were times when I am frightened for their safety as they fly towards a moving car. I have seen pigeons dead and flattened on the road. Sometimes I feel like a sinner as I did not help a dying pigeon on the road. His wings were broken, he was shivering because he had fallen in the drain and that was the only why I could not go down to carry him out but only look at him. He was lying there looking up at the sky and at that moment I was wondering what was going in his mind. I am sure birds can think and they are not bird brained after all. I wonder what he thought of me as he lay there wounded and as I looked at him. I had to apologize for not being able to reach down into the drain to lift him up and I walked away quickly from the heart wrenching scene, hoping death will come to him quickly.

The security guard of the block of apartments says it will take about 2 months before the whole family will fly off from their home at my balcony. I guess unlike other birds these little pigeons are going to be a bit more matured before they learn how to fly and leave the nest to find a fortune in the horizon. I wish them luck and I thank them for giving me an opportunity to reflect on them. My only wish, I hope they will not tell their relatives that there is a place called home on the 24th floor in Sharjah! I don't want to end up as their daily poo cleaner :-)

 

The Golden City

Going to Myanmar is not about booking a flight, packing and leaving. The visa is very important as otherwise you will not be allowed to enter the country. You can get the visa from the Myanmar embassy or online and the fee varies. You can get a 24 hour express service for extra money. I will call Myanmar a “cash only country” as there were only a handful of places that accepted credit cards and there were hardly any ATMs around. So you need to carry cash either the US dollars or Burmese Kyat. You can bring the highest end mobile phone or laptop over to

Myanmar and not use it at all because of the poor telecommunication network in the country. Point to note is – don’t ever travel on a tight schedule as there possible chances of vehicle breakdown or delayed arrival of a driver.

The first unusual thing I saw in Yangon after we landed were all the people walking about with a yellow powder on their faces. Majority of the women had this powder on their face and various patterns. At first I thought it was sandalwood powder but the following day I found out that it was called “thanakha” and it is a kind of skin care product made from the bark of a tree. It is supposed to keep the skin cool and protected from the sun and also gives a smooth complexion. Whether they are rich or poor, most Myanmar ladies have it on their face. I guess the Body Shop would have already studied this product!

Yangon is all about lakes, parks, traditional Burmese architectures, temples and more temples and pagodas at every turn as well as some colonial buildings. During the numerous walkabout trips I did in Yangon, I came across men who had almost burgundy coloured stained teeth and who were chewing betel nut leaves and betel nuts and I found messy red splodges on floors, roads and walls! There are stalls almost at every street corner selling betel nut – mostly in the form of quid – a quid of betel leaf is usually with creamy slaked lime, wafer thin slices of dried betel nuts, a dab of cutch and some shavings of tobacco folded into a triangular shape. Sometimes other ingredients like fennel or dried mint was added too. The Indians called this paan and in Myanmar they call this “kun-ya”. My father used to chew betel leaves after a meal, always telling us that betel leaves are a good source of calcium, carotene and iron and also that it helps in digestion. When I was old enough to read books, I read that betel nuts contain cancer causing carcinogen and told father to stop adding betel nuts to his betel leaves. Do you know that after nicotine and ethanol, betel nut is the fourth most widely used drug in the world!? I found out that in Myanmar, eating of betel leaves was a social enjoyment – something you would give your guests or something you would chew and sit with friends and chat.

The majority of people, both men and women of Myanmar wear their traditional garment – the “longyi”. A longyi is basically a sarong – a long piece of material sewn into a tube and then slipped over the head my men or stepped into by women and tucked at the waist. Men fold the garment at the waist and then tie a knot. Ladies wear more of a wrap-around longyi tucked at the waist – it is usually wrapped from left to right or vice versa. Men usually wear cotton longyi with squares, checks or lines as patterns. Ladies were patterns of checks, stripes; flowers, butterflies etc. and the longyi are usually very colourful. For special occasions like weddings and events, longyi made of silk or satin is worn.  The Buddhist monks wear from saffron to brown to burgundy coloured robes.

Myanmar has diverse geographical features with favourable seasonal conditions and is naturally endowed with fertile soil and water resources and therefore it boasts an abundant supply of food in a great variety all year around. Rice is the staple food of Myanmar. There is a great influence on the Myanmar cuisine by the Indians and Chinese and you can see it clearly although Myanmar people still cherish their own food, ensuring that its essence and uniqueness remains unchanged.

At meal time, the dishes are all laid out on the dining table and everyone help himself to the food. There are no appetizers or hors d'oeuvre, and no wine or spirits served at the meal. Myanmar people eat with their fingers, but dishes are provided with serving spoons to be handled with the clean left hand only. Soup is usually placed in the centre for all the diners to share. The soups are usually clear and will have chunky portions of vegetables or meat; are sour with tamarind juice or gongkura leaves or spicy like tom yam soup. Salads are served at every meal and a salad is usually a combination of raw, boiled or preserved vegetables, cooked meat, thick slices of onion, tamarind juice, chilli powder or flakes, fish sauce, fried shredded garlic in cooked oil, and pounded dried prawn, all mixed thoroughly by hand – sometimes overly smelling of dried prawns. Dessert is usually fresh fruits like mango or a piece of jaggery.

I found food in Myanmar generally very oily but Myanmar cuisine is something I will not discount from my life – it is very nice.

One outstanding dish was the Laphet or pickled tea leaves. This is a popular dish and snack with pickled tea leaves, assorted nuts and pulses, fried garlic, chillies, dried prawns and sesame seeds. Apparently tea leaves are very important during ceremonies and court cases those days. It seems court cases are considered settled when the pickled tea is shared. In Myanmar, the plucked tea leaves are steamed and then pack tightly into bamboo jars and these is buried for about 6 months – hence the delicate flavour. Laphet is prepared differently in each of the provinces of Myanmar.

All over Yangon I found snack shops selling all kinds of food – savoury and sweet and I think one day is not enough to experience the sweet sights, inhale the tempting smells and have a bit of the tantalizing tastes! All these stalls are well patronized. From pancakes, to samosas, fried chickens, donuts, stick rice, yoghurt, noodles and betel leaves…….you see it everywhere. Some of the stalls are located at the most unhygienic areas but you will not suffer from food poisoning if you buy food that is cooked and served piping hot.

I enjoyed my trip to Yangon and I know there are going to be more trips to Myanmar.

Have you got a Dick? I do.

Since I was a child I have always been fascinated with knives and I think knives are just beautiful. We had only two knives at home then and both were the sole properties of my mum. I was not allowed to use the knives until I was about 10 years old. But I used to love to watch her slicing or cutting something or another and I enjoyed watching her body moving forward and backward slightly as she was chopping. Of course, today I realized that her body was moving that way because her knife was not only blunt but she was not standing correctly!!

From owning just 3 knives for $10 kind (usually sold at the night markets those days and made in China), today I own knives that are worth a couple of thousands. I hate to share my knives with anyone, just as I hate to share my undies or shoes with anyone. Knives are very private. The first time, I had to travel out of the country to Melbourne to develop recipes and conduct a couple of workshops; I wanted to carry my own knives. At that point of my life, I did not own a knife bag, leather roll or a knife briefcase. I would wrap my knives in thick wads of newspapers and then roll it in my towel and then place it in between my clothes in the suitcase. It was always a proud moment when I take out my personal knives and lay it on the table for use during a cooking class or when working with other chefs in the kitchen.

As a chef, one of the most important decisions I had to make is to choose the right knife as the knife is the number one tool that I consistently and constantly use in my job. Well, it is not just a chef who uses a knife often…….anyone and everyone who cooks will have to use a knife let alone the doctors, the butchers, the artists etc. Therefore it is not advisable to be stingy and buy the cheapest knife available. A good knife can change you into a kitchen magician!

In the beginning of my career, I used to own only 3 knives – a 10 inch (25 cm) chef’s knife, bread knife and a 6 inch (15 cm) utility knife. I used the chef’s knife and the utility knife for almost every cutting, slicing, chopping, deboning, portioning fish, garnishing and many other functions in the kitchen. Along with it I had a well-used knife sharpening stone. I have tried and have used many different brands. Every one of the brand had something or another that attracted me to it. My current companion in the kitchen is a range of F.Dick knives from Germany. I know you are giggling at the name but do remember that famous people had funny names and this brand stands out amongst all knife brands – you can remember it!

I have this whole range of knives for the different functions. But again, a novice cook need only about 3-4 knives to begin with. When buying a knife you will have to consider these three main points: steel, handle and weighting.

The type of steel used in making a knife matters a lot. There are many kinds of steel alloys used by different companies but personally the German Steel and Japanese Steel is the more popular ones for making of knives. Of which, I preferred the German steel and hence my preference for F.Dick knives. The steel used for making the F.Dick knives are very sturdy and less prone to breaking off at the tip when dropped. Well, even the most experienced chef, drops a knife occasionally you know! German knives are also traditionally sharpened to about a 22° angle, making them sharp but also sturdy at the same time. The handle must sit snugly in your hand and always buy knives that are appropriate for your hand size. It is also important to remember that the maximum power of the knife is achieved at the area nearest the handle, so harder or more dense materials may be cut from this area. Finer cutting of soft items, such as mushrooms, may be executed by using the tip of the blade.

Do take note that you should not be buying knives that are overly light! Some amount of weight should be there on a knife. Having the most expensive knife in the world is only half the trick, a solid foundation or positioning is necessary to accomplish consistency in production. Stand straight with your weight evenly distributed on both feet. Stand as close to the work bench as possible without touching it. Then, place your feet at about a 20° angle with your heels approximately six inches apart. Remain relaxed while cutting.

Read more about my F.Dick knives at  http://www.dick.de